Old arson-damaged Reinero’s building demolished after fire leaves it ‘dangerous’
The building that that once housed Reinero’s Trophy Room was torn down Wednesday, almost three years after a once-locally famous downtown Merced restaurant was damaged in a suspected arson fire.
The demolition capped a lengthy legal process to take down the building.
“There’s a lot of history here,” Mayor Mike Murphy said, reminiscing about the restaurant’s clam chowder and atmosphere.
The city had to spend about $120,000 to demolish the building, which had asbestos and a stress-fractured facade.
That was after the building’s owner didn’t respond to requests by the city to fix up the building. The city will be reimbursed when the property sells.